


Love, A Renegade

by hermibadger36



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, My First AO3 Post, Original Character(s), Original Location(s), Original Story - Freeform, Original Universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-19 09:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12407463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermibadger36/pseuds/hermibadger36
Summary: A nice journey through nice scenery, and getting to meet cool people. Maybe.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Archive work, as well as my first big original story in general! Tell me if something sucks please I want to be able to fix it.

It was dark, very dark, almost too dark. A child lifted her hand to her face, and feeling the scars, started to cry. Nobody heard this child. She was all alone in the vast expanse of grey she was looking at. A boiling feeling made her tears hot, her veins shooting with ice, and boiling water all at the same time. She stomped on the ground, and the grey rippled. Punched nowhere in particular, and a small cracking sound was made. It didn't hurt when she smashed at the 'wall' of the abyss, why would it? But if she could shatter the dark, room like void she was trapped in, she was going to do it. That boiling feeling raced through her veins as she lifted her leg and kicked, as hard as she could at the grey. She watched, her grin widening in satisfaction as the dark walls around her started cracking like an eggshell, shattering from her pure raw strength and willpower. She looked at her right hand, It was rather boney, and didn't look like it could do much, but her left looked strong, like it had always been. The grey gave way with a boom to a clearing where she was hovering over. Interesting...

The girl flew around, no direction in mind. She was just enjoying the sights. The fact that she was hovering over the trees was exciting, because she'd never flown before. She didn't even know humans could do that without an airplane! She wiped her eyes of any lingering puddles, and tried to push down the boiling in her stomach. She was going to feel happy. Happy that she survived... The incident. The feeling bubbled hotter as voices whispered in her head. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but they seemed tortured. Her mother had always told her that if you hear voices in your head, it means you're lucky, because they chose you to confide in with all of the problems of being a spirit. The voices got louder, but even more incoherent as they just turned into violent screams of agony. Poor spirits, they must really be in pain! She continued to fly around. As she flew, she noticed that around a certain area of the forest, they started screaming their bloodcurdling banshee screeches, but quieted down when she flew away. She thought of when she and her mother would go on long walks with a metal detector, just finding weird things under the earth. From guns, to money, to cans, it was always fun to just search. The voices seemed to be mimicking that, getting louder at one certain place, and quieter anywhere else, so she flew to where the screams were the worst, and looked down.

Down below her was a man in a cloak, with the body of a dead girl surrounded by candles as he was chanting. Despite the fire around it, you could see the ice in the joints. 'Oh no!' she thought, as she lowered herself to the ground. The man didn't notice her, so she slowly reached towards the corpse, brushing a hand over her mangled face. Nothing happened, so she decided to watch the man. He looked like a completely average guy, just in a weird wizards robe. He had a book with a strange circular symbol she had never seen before, and therefore didn't recognize. The same was on the ground, the corpse laid in the middle. What was this man trying to do? She ran her hand back over the face, dipping a finger in the exposed eye socket, and shuddering as she did so. She ran the very tip of her fingers along the rip line of the skin and muscle to skeleton. It felt so natural for her to be doing this.

Yellow. Very yellow, almost too yellow. The girl laying in the center opened her eyes, and the man gasped. The girl stood up, walked over to the man, and waved. The man waved back, not knowing what to do, and when they turned to part ways, the next thing he felt was the hot wax from a candle being poured along his neck, burning him. A firm hand clasped over his mouth to stop the screaming. Flames were consuming this girl's body, as the feeling bubbled over within her, she closed another hand around the man's waxed up throat, unfeeling as he gagged, wheezed, and tried to call for help. Eventually, the man perished, and went up in a cloud of smoke, thick tendrils dispersing in the air, tainting the fresh scent of early morning. The girl felt powerful, as she began her trek through the forest, with its winding trees, fresh scent, and leafy canopy, not noticing anything because of the feeling. The feeling that had consumed what was left of this young soul. It was burning. It was completely totally her, and she was ready to do her job.


	2. Sidekick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new friend

The human woke up to the sound of a fading cackle. Opening their eyes slowly, they immediately closed them against the sun. They stood up shakily, shaking their head to clear any stray thoughts clinging in their head. They made a funny face at the noise. The human wasn’t very hard to lose in a crowd, their features entirely neutral. Shoulder length coffee brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin, the works. They always hated that about themselves, being completely normal looking. They thought about the protagonists you’d read about in stories, traveling the land with their prophetic scar, or good looks. They sighed and began to walk towards a suspicious looking tree. The tree had... a tail? No. That was a fox. A lithe, fire orange vixen with little lotus flowers tied very tightly around her bushy tail. They scanned their eyes over the entirety of what they could see of the fox, from the orange of her back, to her burnt orange paws, to the white of her underbelly and underside of her tail. She poked her head out from the tree root. She had big red eyes, that same burnt orange tufted on her head, and a tiny lotus blossom adorning the tuft. A little white ball was clamped in her large jaws, and when she saw the human watching her, she raised her tail, put the ball in the bush of fur, and shook it. This was clearly a warning to back off, but this human was having none of that, as they took a step forward. The vixen backed away slowly, flattening her ears, and swaying her tail even more. Keep stepping, keep backing away. It was a brutal cycle until the vixen eventually bumped against a tree. Effectively trapped, the vixen used her last resort. She bared her large, white fangs, gnashing them together as she took a few shaky steps forward. 

The human grimaced, and drew a small screwdriver from their pocket. They were scared of the fox, so they wanted this to be over as fast as possible. They took their final step forward, toe to toe with the fox. The fox stared up at the human with a perfect cherry red stink eye. It was an expression they didn’t even know foxes could do. A few more seconds of glaring, and the vixen lunged at their leg. They yowled in pain as red beads of blood started to appear on the limb, running down in rivulets. They turned to limp away, but the fox jumped, higher than they thought it could, onto their back. Sinking her teeth into their shoulder, they fell onto the leafed forest floor. The smell of peat filled their nose, and they gagged, causing the vixen to bite harder. They felt a paw lift off their back, before crashing down, claws digging into their skin. They started to sob, trying desperately to cover their head and neck before the fox severed their jugular. They reached up and swatted the fox away, their pale hand stained red. The vixen tucked and rolled, snarling. She lunged again, but they managed to dodge the attack. The screwdriver lay forgotten among the leaf mold as the bloodied human struggled to get up. 

They stared into their aggressor’s soft red eyes, and she stared back. They stepped forward in a peace offering, but ultimately failed as they had probably diseased fangs sinking into their exposed calf once again. They tore the fox from their leg in a sudden burst of strength and punched it in the muzzle. She snarled, trying to bite at their hand. This only resulted in her neck being pushed in. The human threw the animal to the ground and sent it flying into a tree with a kick. The fox rolled down the trunk, and picked herself up. She didn’t even look remotely hurt. She snarled, locking the human in a stare. She took a step forward, and they were overcome with terror. They really hadn’t thought this through. She lunged again, and her teeth returned to their new home. Claws joined the fray, raking through soft flesh, and parts of the fabric of their shorts. They howled in agony as the vixen continued her assault.

The human broke down sobbing as they got whaled on by the aggressive wildlife, smoke starting to rise from their body. The fox seemed to notice, and her expression softened. The fury in her eyes melting away, the flowers on her tail giving a little shake as she padded a good few feet away from the crying wreck. They looked back at her in confusion. Why had she stopped? The fox watched with worried red eyes, scanning the damage done. She held out a paw, a genuine peace offering, and crinkled her nose as the human took it. They smiled a heart melting smile as they realized they were being spared.

“I’m Lotus.” She spoke, her mellifluous voice calm. Their brown eyes widened in shock, their mouth gaping. Lotus smirked, “Nice to meet you too. What’s your name?” The human’s hands waved no, and it was Lotus’ turn to look… mildly surprised. “You don’t have a name?” The human nodded. “How about I call you…” Lotus thought for a moment, before an absolutely evil smile glanced over her muzzle. “Sidekick.” The human looked a bit disappointed, before Lotus stood up and said, “Let’s go to my home, where we can get your wounds patched up.” She looked down at the ground in shame “Sorry, about that, by the way.” She whimpered. The human looked away, and sniffled, before pointing at themself and holding up two fingers. Lotus sighed, and brushed her fiery orange, lotus covered tail along their leg.”Come on… I’ll get you fixed up. I know a guy.”


	3. Pathfinders

A sweet scent filled the air as they stumbled along, and the air seemed to get much warmer. A fire crackled nearby, and they headed over. Smoke was still rising from the human’s body, even as they reached the man by the fire. He took one look at the pale, bloodied teen and rushed over with a kit of sorts. It was clean, the white plastic practically glowing. It had a neat, cardinal colored star on the front. The unique sign that signaled good health.  
“What happened to you?” The man asked, his voice a low rumble. The human gestured to their scratches, paused, and pointed at some of the more jagged branches on the trees.  
“They tripped into the grove…” Lotus said, her eyes locked into the man’s blue ones. “Sidekick, this is the wanderer’s passage. You can rest here until you get healed up.” She whispered.  
The human nodded, and sat down for the man to heal up their wounds.  
“These are… Pretty deep for tree branches…” He looked at them curiously. Did you get attacked as well?”  
“My sidekick wasn’t attacked, I assure you.” Lotus’ voice was strangely firm, and her eyes flashed. Seemingly, as nothing ever happened, the man returned to their patient. He silently worked, spreading balms and ointment across the skin, and applying bandages over the spreads. After about half an hour, the bandages came off.  
“You should rest. It’s getting late.” The man’s voice sounded automated. They nodded, and shuffled into a hut marked ‘guests’ and lay down on one of the floor mats. The hut was a thick brown fabric with a small opening at the top were the sticks holding it together meet at one point. A small glass lantern surrounded a small dancing flame, which provided enough light to light up the entire hut. Lotus tied the small opening with pieces of string at the bottom to prevent bugs from getting in. Which didn’t do much, because the top was open anyway. She then quickly snapped back into reality, and noticed the human shifted to their side to calm the pain of the cuts pressed against the ground. Lotus noticed the human curled up covering their face as if they were scared of something. As if they were hiding from her.

6/8/21xx

The human laughed and ran to her side. They quickly pulled their hand up and tapped her arm firmly. The sun was shining beating down, but the children played beneath the shade of large oak trees.  
“HEY!” The little girl giggled, giving chase. They sprinted away, and when they looked back, they saw their sister giving them a pout.  
“What’s that worm doing under your nose Em?” They teased.  
“It’s being mad at you!” Their sister, Emily, laughed, starting to catch up. Just as she was about to tag her sibling, They dodged out of the way, leaving her to trip and fall on a patch of wildflowers. She started to laugh, clutching her stomach as she folded herself over. She tried to stand up, but collapsed in a fit of giggles. They started to laugh as well, laying down next to Emily.  
“What are you two doing down there?” Their mom had found them collapsed in laughter.  
“Nothing really mum.” They responded, pulling Em up with them.  
“Well, you better get home before your dinner gets cold!” Their mother replied. They followed after.  
“We’re like those little baby ducks by the pond! Remember?” Emily squealed. They nodded, and turned around. What they saw wasn’t what they expected at all…  
A shadowed silhouette of their sister stared at them. Everything pitch black except for her right eye, glowing yellow, and a horrible jagged smile.  
“Why did you do this to me?” Em whispered. The whisper echoed, louder each time. They shook their head.  
“I’m sorry!” They wailed.  
“No you’re not.”  
The figure’s smile expanded and her eye glowed even brighter as the star inside grew bigger. It was staring into their very being. A chorus of whispers filled the air as she took a step forward, and in one fluid movement Reached for their neck.  
“Sk-”

And then they woke up. They were covered in freezing sweat, their eyes bugging out as they shook like a leaf. Their hair was dripping as it clung to their face. Lotus looked up at them and started.  
“You okay sidekick?” She asked, flicking her enormous tail back and forth. They reflexively nodded, taking deep breaths. They weren’t fine. What was that? Lotus looked at them, obviously not believing a word they said. “Yeah, ok. You ready to go?” She asked.

They thought for a moment, before looking down at their wounds, only to see that they were completely healed. Medicine sure could be amazing. They stood up, and took a few wobbly steps around the hut, almost tripping over the wooden door mat. They stumbled around, head swimming.  
“Uhhh. you okay there?” Lotus questioned, eyes practically dripping with amusement. They shook their head, and sat back down. “Okay… Wanna tell me about that dream?” They glared at her and shook their head. “Clearly not, huh…” She remarked. They stared down at the floor in stony silence, and Lotus stared back at them, eyes unblinking. They continued like this for several minutes, just staring. The floor was dirty, dust bunnies under every corner, and dirt covering the junction between floor and wall. The human finally stood up, walked over to Lotus, and scooped her up. “Okay…?” Lotus’ face betrayed confusion as she tried to squirm from their grasp. Her bushy tail hit them repeatedly in the face, tickling their nose, and making them squint, but they just kept their iron grip on her. They finally sneezed, and dropped her. She fell to the floor, and scrambled back on her paws. “Umm… What was that about?” She asked, to which they replied with a smirk. Lotus shook her head. “You’re a weird one. Let’s get going” She sighed.

They exited from the hut, the flap falling back into place behind them.  
“You all better?” The man asked, scanning their body over.  
“Yes, they are. Now, we better hurry if we’re going to get into Wanderer’s Rest.” Lotus reported, hooking her tail around the human’s leg.  
“I suppose so! Have a nice trip you two!” He laughed, waving them off.  
“Come on, sidekick!” Lotus called, bolting from the small camp. They huffed, and started jogging after, speeding up when they almost lost Lotus among the trees. They took notice of the multiple signs tacked up on trees that would direct people to the small camp, ‘Traveler's Passage.’ They continued running, taking in the sights and smells of the forest around them. The tree canopy was rather high, and only a few rays of sunlight shone through in bursts. Songbirds of all colors and sizes tittered from the high branches, squirrels rustled along the roots and played along the trunks, and small, shiny silver fish sped along in a creek by the trail. Their eyes snapped to Lotus just as her bushy orange tail rounded a corner. They followed after her, legs beginning to hurt, pain shooting through their veins as their heart pumped blood to them in desperation. A large village soon came into view, and they churned their legs faster, knowing they could stop soon.


	4. Monster Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making a few new friends

Lotus eventually slowed down, and stopped so they could catch up. They reached her side, panting, sweat dripping from their face.

“So… umm… not to be rude, sidekick, but uh… What are you?” Lotus squeaked. They looked at her in confusion. “I uh... Mean… What… gender.” She whispered. The human picked up a stick, and at a patch of dirt, drew their gender symbol. Lotus snorted. “That’s not a gender! That’s a cloud with a bunch of arrows!” The human shrugged, and grinned. “Whatever, sidekick…” She shook her head and sighed. “Let’s keep going, the village is right here.” They looked up, and there, in all of its glory, was Wanderer’s rest. They nodded, and strolled up to the city gate.

A guard let them in, an observant hawk eye burning into their back as they walked in. The sound of little children laughing, the smell of baked goods, and a certain quaint feeling was vivid in this small town. They walked with Lotus, taking in the sights. They wished they had a camera to remember the pretty sights of the town. Small wood and brick houses lined a winding stone path, which led up to a small marketplace. The marketplace was a bunch of wooden stands and carts, lined along the cobblestone. Striped tented roofs pitched over the wares. People were laughing and chatting, buying various trinkets from carts and stands. Among the cheerful bustle of the town square stood a boy. He was a light periwinkle, with white hair and tiny orange horns that curled backwards over his head. He had fins adorning the sides of his face, dark gray bat like wings on his back, and above all, he looked starving. Monsters were nothing special, just a different species. They had grown up friends with a monster… They wondered how she was doing.

 

The human watched the boy pull apple off a cart and slink away. He had a regretful look on his face as he bit into the treat with his sharp yellow fangs, but it eventually turned to bliss as his skin began to shimmer a bit.

“See that sidekick?” Lotus asked. They nodded, looking down at the fox. “Okay good. Essentially, what’s happening, is the small traces of magic in the food are healing him. This was probably his lucky day.” The expression on the human’s face was unreadable. The duo wandered around the market, marveling at various wares that looked out of place in this old timey feel. High tech smartphones, alarm clocks, digital watches, you name it, they have it. They eventually started looking at the shops located in the massive brick buildings. These buildings looked the most taken care of, apart from the utterly enormous town hall in the center. The town hall was also made of brick, but it stood on a hill, and had large stone steps leading to an open arch. Tall marble pillars supported the arched dark wood roof. It was really a sight to behold.

They walked down the street to a small shop lined with clothes The storefront had A simple handmade wooden sign that read “Dessa’s” The clothes also looked nice, home-made even. As the human went inside, they scanned their eyes over the shopkeeper, Dessa, they assumed. She was very thin, and wearing a long white dress with an ace on it. That same symbol was carved over her head, alongside a heart, a diamond, and… The symbol for clubs? She must really like cards. She also had a long, red cape draped over the back of her chair, and short shiny black hair framing her face and covering her forehead. She looked at them in surprise. Lotus sidestepped out of her view so she wouldn’t scare her. After all, seeing a wild animal in your shop, no matter how sentient, is relatively terrifying.

“Oh hello! You’re a new face! What brings you around this neck of the woods?” Dessa asked, leaning forward on her desk and smoothing her bright red cape. The human pointed to their mouth, and made an ‘x’ with their arms. “You can’t talk?” She asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. They nodded, blushing. “Well, come get me if you need anything!” She said cheerfully, returning to her knitting. She was dexterous to say the least, her fingers expertly moving along the needles, and her tattooed hands moving quickly. They looked around, taking in the shop. Up in the rafters, several spiders seemed to have made their home here, webs spun with the same kind of craftsmanship of the scarf being knit. They smiled, a pained expression seeing as they hadn’t done it in a while, but they were still smiling.

They walked among the rows of clothes, everything seeming to have something to do with spiders. That lady must really like spiders, the human thought, as they ran their hand over the first plain white shirt they’d seen in the store. It was silky, and felt nice. They picked it up, and looked at the price. Hey! Twenty dollars for a nice looking shirt wasn’t bad at all! They fished in their pockets, and found a credit card. Biting their lip, they crossed their fingers and closed their eyes, walking towards the desk hoping that they accepted credit. After all, the town seemed pretty old fashioned, despite the random bursts of advanced technology here and there. “What is it? Oh! Do you want me to ring you up?” They nodded, untensing themselves, and putting the shirt down with the credit card. She plucked the card, and swiped it along the register. They’d never seen that before, some new technology? The shopkeeper waited for a second, before smiling at the human, and giving them their shirt and credit card. “Changing room’s over there if you need anything!” She pointed, not looking up from her knitting… They flinched. You would need more than two arms to do what she was doing, and more than two arms she had. She looked up in confusion, and then laughed. “Oh!” She waved her six arms, and pushed her short black hair back, revealing six more eyes.

She was a spider. That made some kind of sense, they guessed, but it was still surprising. She was still laughing her head off, all eight eyes screwed shut.

“You really are new around here!” She giggled. When the spider girl calmed down, she looked up at them. “Thanks for your business! Come back some time!” She grinned mischievously at them. “Oh, and don’t get burned by that big dragon!” They smiled, and turned away in a nervous sweat. Dragon? Maybe Lotus would know… The vixen joined them at the door as they walked out.

“Heya sidekick! See you bought the exact shirt that you already had!” Lotus greeted them cheerfully. They shot the fox a glare. “What’s with the stink eye?” They shook their head, pinching the bridge of their nose in exasperation before tripping and falling over a crack in the stone path. Lotus caught the bag with their new shirt in her mouth, a mirthful expression gracing her face. “How was your trip, sidekick? Ya havin’ a nice fall?” They pounded at the dirt in frustration, pulling themselves up, and starting their walk again. A child’s call was heard; “A KITTY!” Alarmed, Lotus pulled on the human’s leg with her teeth, not breaking skin, and led them into a dark alleyway. 

 

The soft sound of beating wings filled the duo’s ears, and the human turned to look at the source. They were met with huge compound eyes staring at them. Large fuzzy antennae adorned an equally fuzzy face. Huge moth wings adorned the creature’s back, which was leaning against a locked up metal cart. The creature’s fuzzy limbs poked out of a dress shirt and pants.

“Hey, can I interest you in some… equipment?” The moth asked, banging the door of the cart.

“What does that mean exactly?” Lotus spat, glaring at the sales moth.

“It just means I have some junk to sell…” The moth replied, a smug grin plastering his fuzzy face.

“And what the hell do you mean by junk?” Lotus was starting to get quite ticked off, her tail bushing out, and the lotus flowers attached to it shaking. The moth chuckled, and opened the cart, revealing a whole multitude of weapons, armor, and weirdly enough, food.

“This is what I mean by junk, sweetheart.” The moth smirked. Lotus scowled, and turned to her partner, who was excitedly staring at the display in front of them. Their eyes were wide, and a smile was spread ear to ear across their face.

“We can’t get any. We don’t have the money for this.” Lotus growled, and turned to move away. The human bit their lip, and watched as the sales moth leaned back against the wall, closing his giant eyes. They silently leapt towards the cart, snagging the first thing they could, before lunging away towards Lotus. “Ready to go sidekick?” She asked, tail having flattened itself a bit. They nodded, and clipped the belt they had filched around their waist. Lotus smiled at them, and motioned for them to go around the corner. When their foot was out of sight, Lotus spit at the moth. “Bye as-.”

“It’s Fidget, sweetheart.” The moth cut her off coolly, kicking the door to his stand closed, and cracked open an eyelid. Lotus bared her fangs at him and turned heel, following after the human.

“Hey, look! We’re at the back exit! Ready to do some hiking sidekick?” She looked at them, and a completely neutral expression was on their face. “I guess, so huh? Let’s go, I guess!” The vixen cheered. The friends walked towards the exit, where the guards met them with a frown.

“Hey, kid, are you sure you want to go out there?” They nodded, and stared at the guard in confusion. “I mean, that dragon’s pretty mean!” he chuckled. The human paled at that, and shuddered

“What do you mean, that dragon?” Lotus scoffed, a slight hint of amusement twinkling in her eyes. The guard looked taken aback at the talking fox, but shook his head and continued.

“I uh, mean that huge dragon that breathes fire at the sky every morning! That thing’s why our weather is always so  _ warm _ . Real menace!” The guard scowled. Lotus rolled her eyes.

“Alright, whatever. Let’s go, sidekick.” She turned back towards the mountains, and brushed her tail along the human’s calf. As the human looked up, their eyes were met with an enormous rocky mountain range, a dirt path winding up, and partly shrouded with fog. As they walked forward, the sound of crickets, and the squelching of their feet against the peaty ground could be faintly heard, surrounding the duo in a blanket of soft noises. This was going to be… interesting…


	5. Mountain Climbers

Lotus was taking teeny steps forward, shaking her head, and breathing erratically. The human bent down and ran their finger along her back. “H-hey sidekick.” She whispered. They thought for a moment, before pointing to Lotus and holding their stomach. The fox looked at them for a bit, before sighing “No, I’m not sick, and there’s nothing wrong, either!” The human nodded, not entirely convinced, and the duo continued on their way. The human walked on with Lotus at their side through the clouds of mist hanging on the side of the mountain. It was a nice, peaceful walk, spent in silence, and listening to the sound of birds, a large thunderous noise filled their ears and the mountain shook violently. 

The human and Lotus lost their footing and slipped onto the rocky mountain surface. The rumbling came to a sudden stop, and Lotus was quick to jump back onto her paws and run to the human. “Human, are you alright?” She had a concerned look on her face, and helped lift the human to its feet. She closely examined the human, eyes shifting to a large scratch on their forehead, with a stream of velvet blood falling from it onto their face. She tried to graze her paw along its forehead to wipe off the blood but jumped when the mountain slightly vibrated under their feet. Her eyes widened and her fur tufted out. Her cheeks grew wide and she ran away from the human. Startled, the human quickly looked over and watched as Lotus threw up. Fire sprayed out of her mouth as her tail seemed to bush out even more. They stared at her, concern lighting up their features. She mumbled something and glared at the peak of the mountain, where a puff of smoke and a fraction of a red snout was present. Even the fraction was huge, and whatever it belonged to was slowly rising to the very top of the mountain. “Ugh.” Lotus growled, “Welcome to Eagle’s Peak, sidekick.” The human looked around them, their vision panning around to catch everything they missed the first time because of the distance. 

 

Small ruffed lizards were running around Lotus’ feet, nipping at her heels as she kicked them off. Her tail was shaking, giving away her annoyance to the pests. They decided to help, and kicked one of the lizards out of the way. It landed on its feet, claws scoring the dirt, and it hissed, a ruff around its neck flaring. It sped over to the duo, made a motion with its tail, and charged. The other lizards followed the motion, nipping at them with tiny, yet sharp, teeth. Lotus huffed, and continued walking. “Just ignore them, sidekick, they’ll go away eventually.” She held her tail high, away from the lizards, as they lunged at it over and over, seemingly reaching for something. They just continued to travel up, trying to ignore the little pinches from the lizards. They weren’t very painful, it was just irritating. It seemed like forever, but the lizards soon left, hissing, and slithering away. They let out a sigh of relief, and enjoyed the amazing feeling of not having their legs assaulted. They still watched the ground, suspicious of anything else popping out at them and attacking, but took note of the multiple kinds and colors of wildflowers growing sparsely along the dirt path. The dirt path was smoothing out, and narrowing, the flowers starting to grow taller, and closer together. A large archway made of white stone stood at the end of the path, tall, and magnificent. 

 

“Hate to say it sidekick, but humans can’t walk through the arch, you’re gonna have to go around. They frowned, and cocked their head in a question. Lotus’ eyes flicked around, before she spoke again. “You know  _ how _ I talk, right…?” They nodded, their curiosity now at its peak. “Well… Only  _ magic _ can pass through the arch without umm… well… Full carnage breaking out killing everyone on the mountain and within a twenty mile radius.” Their eyes widened as they nodded, starting to walk around. “It’s uh...The same if a magical being goes around.” They nodded again, speeding past the archway. The human released a breath they didn’t even know they were holding, filled with relief when nothing happened. Lotus took small steps through the arch, wincing a bit when magic swarmed around her fur. The magic was sparking with loud exploding noises, and it seemed like it would be extremely painful to move through. She eventually made it out, shaking, and brushing out her fur.

 

The duo almost sprinted away from the arch, only slowing down when it was out of sight. The grass almost covered the path at this point, but there were no flowers to be seen, and any vegetation visible was an ugly yellow. Humming, clapping, and the banging of metal was faint, almost inaudible in the howling wind that was starting to whip up. The human closed their eyes, smiling as the cool air blew at their face, whipping their hair against their face. They spit out a strand, which tasted like dirt and sweat. They were going to have to find a place to wash soon. Their pale skin was also getting a bit darker, though that was probably due to the amount of sunlight they were getting. 

“HEY YOU TWO!” A very familiar female voice called out over the roar of the wind.

“Oh, it’s... Dessa, huh.” Lotus stated, looking up at the human, who was grinning ear to ear. That grin faltered a bit when they saw her companion. 

“Yeah, hey.” Fidget’s low tone carried to them, still quiet as they walked forward. Lotus’ bared her fangs a bit, lip curling over the sharp canines. “Nice to see you too sweetheart,” he chuckled, nonchalantly picking at his fuzzy fingers. Lotus looked super mad, flowers blooming directly out of her paws. They looked at her in shock. She had  _ just  _ told them she had magic, and they wanted to see all of what she could do.

“So, how have you been?” Dessa asked them, and their head turned to look at her, giving her a thumbs up. “Splendid!” She exclaimed, clapping her six hands. They smiled, side eyeing Fidget as they moved to hide the stolen weapon. Fidget didn’t notice, his attention turned to his staring match with Lotus. He smiled as vines trailed up his legs, pricking him. 

“Hilarious.” He stated, kicking a bit. Lotus faltered a bit, a little bit surprised at his talking out of nowhere. They turned back to Dessa, who was rummaging through a small backpack. They watched as she pulled out her knitting equipment, throwing herself back on a chair that she had set up. She winked her four right eyes at them, before turning her attention to the sweater she was making. They were now forced to watch Fidget and Lotus’ staring contest. The vines were now gone, but the hostility coming from Lotus in waves had not subsided at all. They noticed Fidget’s wings flapping slowly, as if he were trying to figure out air flow. His wings had an eye pattern dead set in the middle of each, and surrounded by faded blue circles on the outer edges. The wings started fluttering a bit faster, and the eye pattern on them shifted to look at Lotus as well. They shuddered, and looked away, frightened by their friend’s wings. 

Lotus let out a huff, and turned to the human.

“We need to leave. Now.” She hissed. They nodded, waved to Dessa and Fidget, and started their walk up the side of Eagle’s Peak once again. The two shopkeepers waved back, keeping five of her hands busy, and waving a hand with a heart tattooed on it. Fidget kind of just wiggled his fingers at them as a goodbye, turning back to talk to Dessa almost immediately. They turned their head down to Lotus, who was staring at the top with a worried expression. “You can still run, right sidekick?” She asked, teeth grinding together nervously. They nodded, and sighed, looking down at their legs. It was still a while to the top… “Good. We don’t have much time!” The fox barked at them, and started bounding up the mountain, tail swaying in the wind. They let out a sigh of frustration. Here we go again.


	6. Beast

They were running rather slowly at first, getting used to the uphill of the mountain, but eventually broke into a faster place when Lotus didn’t slow down at all. It must be a fox thing, to have that much endurance. They didn’t know, and left it up to a probability. Their high tops were getting destroyed by the mountain’s mud, along with their hopes of ever being clean again. They continued to follow their fox friend, snaking around tree stumps, and tripping over random clumps of grass. The run continued for twenty minutes straight before Lotus finally allowed one, merciful break. They collapsed next to her, and she jumped out of the way, startled.

“Well! You needed that, didn’t you?” She snorted, placing a paw on their shoulder. “Well get up then, catch your breath. We don’t have much time!” The human grunted, their muscles ablaze as they pushed themself onto their feet. They couldn’t imagine why they needed to move so quickly, but followed after their furry friend as she took off again regardless.

The break seemed to have made the run worse, their muscles only starting to relax before being pushed back into full power. It wasn’t really being pushed, they thought to themself spitefully. It was more like their legs were being dragged up the mountain kicking and screaming. They tried to think about other things to get their mind off of their legs, but it proved almost impossible. Flowers weren’t cutting it this time. They grit their teeth. Even if their legs buckled under them from the strain, they weren’t going to stop. Their years of running track in school weren’t going to go to waste. They heaved a breath in their body, settling into a more even pace, and swinging their arms near their side. The human focused on their breathing, taking special care to make sure their breaths were long and even. They found themselves feeling a little bit better, and more willing to take on the rest of the mountain. They really weren’t very far away from the top, surprisingly. The mountain was more of a big hill than an actual mountain, but it was just big enough to be considered one. It was tedious and painful, but after about a solid hour of on and off running, they had made it about three quarters of the way up. Lotus was already there, and seemed as if she had been there for a while. They gestured to her, and to their wrist, imitating someone tapping their watch.

“Oh, only about a few hours.” Lotus said, brushing over her ear with a paw, “Not too long at all.” She stood up, and flicked her paw towards a tent. “That’s set up so hikers can rest when they make it up, and trust me. You’re going to need it.” As if scripted, a large, almost deafening roar echoed past their ears, causing them to cover them. They walked over to the tent, and opened it up. It was sparsely furnished, with similar bedding to the camp in Wanderer’s Passage. They lay down, their joints cracking, on one of the small floor mats, and let sleep claim them.

Their rest was dreamless, and when they woke up, they saw Lotus eating what appeared to be a mutilated rabbit. She looked up, and seeing that her friend was awake, licked the blood from around her mouth and padded over.

“Hi there, did you have a good rest?” She asked, sitting down near their head. “I’d bet you did, you slept right through the night!” They drew in a breath. They had gone to sleep around noon! How could they have been that tired? They stared at Lotus in disbelief, who snorted. “Yep! The whole night.” They looked away, eyes bugged out and mouth agape, before they stood up. They gestured to themself and Lotus, and pointed to the tent flap. “Yeah, we should go, shouldn’t we!” She laughed, and started towards the flap. The human followed suit, gathering themselves before pushing through the flap.

The duo started back up the mountain feeling rejuvenated. Their rest had helped the two of them out, and even Lotus was padding along with a spring in her step. They shuffled after her, wanting this mountain to be over already.

“Come on sidekick! Hustle!” She laughed, sweeping behind them and nipping their heel. They huffed, and went along quicker, watching their feet scuff the dirt. Their shoes were getting pretty dirty, and you couldn’t even see the purple fabric they were so caked with grime. The run up was still as boring as ever, but due to their rest it was bearable. The very second they hit the top, a wave of smoke washed over their nose, and they sneezed and started to cough. Lotus looked up through the thick black cloud, her expression of concern invisible as she asked, “You okay there sidekick? This should clear when we reach the dragon at least…” The human tapped their foot, which was right next to the fox. “Okay, I hope that means that you’re okay.” She breathed. The human didn’t hear her, and started walking up a bit further, around a winding path that led into the mountain itself. The smoke didn’t reach into the mountain, instead winding around the entrance angrily.

They took a second to steel themself before walking down the enormous flight of stairs winding to the dragon, who was visible a few flights down, snoozing peacefully. It was big on both ends, and appeared muscular, it’s legs rippling with every deep breath. It's shining scarlet scales were quite impressive to be honest. A large wisp of hair flowed from its chin and lay on the ground below in a shimmering pool of silver. The beast was incredibly impressive. Majestic would be an understatement, even.

“Here he is sidekick. This is the thing that's been causing the townsfolk their trouble.” Lotus whispered, walking down the stairs after them, journey a bit difficult due to her small fox limbs. The human nodded, and strife down with no difficulty. They were the tiniest bit concerned with Lotus’ calling of a monster a ‘thing.’ Surely he couldn't be any less sentient than any other monster? Their thoughts turned to Dessa, and how intelligent she was. No. She was different, and helpful. She was a monster, this, on the other hand, was a beast. A heartless creature who finds joy in the suffering of others. They unstrapped the taser as they approached the Dragon, and held it in their hand. It was time to fight.


	7. Rocky Grave

As the human and Lotus finally made it down the last step into the very depths of the mountain cave, the dragon cracked open one of it’s eyes and smiled. 

“Welcome, what brings you here?” It said, in a deep, rumbling, and powerful voice. It’s eyes opened fully to take in the human, who was shaking in fear. Lotus spoke, her flowing feminine voice contrasting the one of the beast.

“Who are you? And why are you tormenting the people of Wanderer’s Rest?” She commanded the information, expression guarded.

“Oh, quite simply, my name is Fan!” He chuckled.

“Fawn is an awfully strange name for a dragon as large as you are.” Lotus voiced, scanning him up and down.

“No no small one. Fan. Like rice. Which, speaking of, I got done making some. Would you like a few bowls?” He inquired, starting to reach behind him.

“Do not play games with us demon. We know what you’ve been doing, and if you won’t stop, we’ll be forced to take action!” She spoke, head held high, and her tail swishing as if she were royalty. The beast spun around, and squinted at her, orange eyes narrowing.

“You wish to call me a demon?” The dragon scoffed, and looked away. “Very well. If you wish for a fight, I must oblige.” He rose up, spiked tail swishing as he raised into a sitting position. The human really didn’t want to see how big he was standing up, because even while he was sitting they only reached up to the calf of the dragon. His head raised to the ceiling of the cave, and a blast of flame escaped it’s mouth. Locking eyes with the vixen, he snarled. “Let’s see how well you hold out.”

The duo advanced, Lotus taking the lead as she shimmied up Fan’s leg. He shook her off almost immediately, and she skidded along the floor, eyes burning. Their eyes were fixed on her, but they snapped out of their daze immediately when a giant claw just missed their head, instead crashing down on the floor beside them. They had to jump up when the other claw swiped at them, and they landed on the dragon’s palm. As he was distracted with the human trying to shock his finger joints, Lotus climbed up his back, jumping up his spines and onto his head. Just as Fan was ready to burn the human to a crisp, Lotus’ teeth locked around the dragon’s pointed ear. One disgruntled human fell to the ground, and Fan roared in pain, brushing his claws over his ear. Lotus was gone, however, and this only served to worsen the pain as the sharp nails grazed the fresh wound. It wasn’t a very big wound, but the sensitive flesh was still hurt and bleeding. He lowered his claws to his gaze and snarled at the blood dribbling off the ends. Lotus wasn’t done, however, and snaked her way over to one of the smaller spines on the very top of Fan’s back, wiggling it out without detection. The hole where the spine was started trickling a small stream of blood, and Lotus snuck back up onto the dragon’s head. Taking the spine in her mouth she waited patiently, eyes squinted and tail swishing.

Fan’s attention shifted from the blood on his claws to the human before him, whom was trying to sneak away. Lotus hissed and clung onto a tuft of hair as the beast’s head sharply stooped to the human's level. Baring his fangs, he prowled inch by inch to the ever backing up human, who was sweating a flood, until they hit the wall. They squeezed their eyes shut, feeling the air grow hotter as Fan prepared to blast them with fire. Their breathing slowed as they prepared for blistering fire to wash over them, but it never came. They cracked open one eye just in time to hear Lotus screech in fury as she plunged Fan's own spine into his eye, followed by a loud roar from the Dragon as he fell backwards and thrashed in pain.

Lotus leapt from the dragon to the human's side, and sat down, watching the dragon in a curious fascination. They, on the other hand, were horrified at the display of agony. The fox waved her tail back and forth, before getting the human’s attention.

“You know, his wrist has a few scales missing. You could finish this right here and now…” She said calmly, gesturing a paw at Fan’s writhing form. They looked down at Lotus in surprise, eyes locking onto her calm, smiling muzzle. “Do it for the village sidekick. This thing is a pest.” She whispered, eyes half lidded. They took a deep breath, before lunging forward towards Fan, who was still hissing in pain. The human raised their weapon, turning it on. Sparks flew from the taser, a powerful electrical surge bursting between the metal plates of the thing. They plunged it down on the soft, exposed skin of the dragon’s wrist, and he howled in pain before collapsing. His breaths came shallow and shaky, and he couldn’t move.

“So. This is how it’s going to be…” Fan said, barely lifting his head so his remaining eye could meet the human in front of him. Their face beaded with sweat, terrified of what the dragon might do. Fan made no move to attack them, instead wheezing out a weak laugh. “At least…” He began, “I can die happy… Knowing that I have done my best… And that my family is safe…” The human stared at the dragon as he closed his remaining eye, and lay still against the cold rocky ground.

“Good job sidekick!” Lotus cheered. The human turned off their weapon, and while the taser died, they stared at their hands. They wondered how they had done that. Why they had done that. Above it all, however, was an intense feeling of satisfaction. They had saved an entire town! Maybe even the lands around it! They looked down at Lotus and grinned, and she smiled back, pointy teeth bared. “You did great!” She praised, linking her tail around the human’s leg. “Now let’s get out, and off of this mountain.” The human nodded, and turned to face the steps. Lotus took the lead, and the human followed after, feet scuffing on the rocky steps. A comfortable silence fell between the two companions as they ascended the steps, Lotus having to hop up each one due to the height. The smoky smell decreased with every passing step, the air clearing around them the closer to the exit they got. After they ascended the staircase and made it out, the human took in a deep breath of air. They pointed down the mountain, towards a thick haze of fog.

“That’s where we’re headed, sidekick.” Their friend whispered, “To Spirit’s Marsh.” 


End file.
